PLATTE COUNTY – It’s hot, dry, and there is a lot of fuel that can burn. That’s the analysis of Platte County’s fire warden, Aaron Clark. And here’s his caution: “We’re still under a fire ban, and though it might seem okay to burn after a good soaking rain, it’s not. Things dry out fast – especially cheatgrass: it’s dry an hour after getting wet,” he said.
This weekend there have been some thunderstorms blow across the county, dropping varying amounts of moisture to the thirsty soil, but the “dog days of summer” are still here. Add to that, over the past couple weeks there has been a smoke haze from regional fires – including Montana and Colorado – which contributes to difficulty finding local fires, so Clark urges anyone who smells fresh smoke to report it, and a unit can be dispatched to look into it.
“We have a system in the county so if someone sees or smells smoke, they call 911, and dispatch pushes a button and all the firefighters get a notice on their smartphones – the response to the call is almost instantaneous,” he said.
Just last week, someone reported smelling smoke near Camp Grace at the base of Laramie Peak. The haze in the air proved difficult to see any smoke columns from the ground, but an airplane provided by the state for counties to utilize in initial fire response was able to find the fire within approximately 30 minutes. At that time, the blaze had consumed 50 acres of the dry fuel loads in the area, but the blaze was able to be put out quickly before it increased in size.
Explaining the recent transition in firefighting utilizing a small 800-gallon tanker aircraft, called a “SEATS” (for single engine airtankers) to help spot and douse fires in their initial stages, Clark said, “The state did a wise thing: they provided air resources, paid for by the state, that can be used by the counties at no cost initially. We (as a state) may spend $15,000 - $20,000 for the resource, but that is nothing versus $7 million we spent on the Britannia fire because we lost it. If it keeps a fire from getting big, it’ll pay off every time.”

“People are going to be seeing the aircraft, which looks like a crop duster, more and more,” he added.
A ribbon-cutting for the aerial firefighting base, stationed at Casper-Natrona County International Airport was held June 22, recognizing the upgrades to such bases nationwide as Bureau of Land Management seeks to increase response capabilities during fire season. Funding for the base was provided by the US Forest Service, BLM, and Wyoming State Forestry. Wyoming State Forestry is also creating a Helitack base to support helicopters dedicated to fire suppression efforts as an additional resource for local fire wardens.
Though the aircraft are a welcome addition to the toolkit of fire wardens, historically, now and in the future, volunteer firefighters (both municipal and rural) across the county are the backbone of our local fire response.
“We also rely on the quick response of the ranchers who have fire engines and tanks on their property. A quick response from them has been critical in containing fires – often started by lightning – that would take up to an hour to reach from volunteer fire stations in Wheatland or Guernsey,” Clark said. He added, over the last few years, Camp Guernsey Fire Department has become an important partner with their resources and assistance in fire suppression efforts throughout the county. “We rely on mutual aid a lot and they’ve been very good help,” he said.
He added, one of the things that people can do to help if there is a fire, is to let firefighters know the best access to the fire areas, or if there is a source of water they can pull from. Usually, they have to haul their own water on the trucks, which is quickly exhausted in some more stubborn fires.
Some precautionary measures homeowners can take to include thinking about the inevitable situation where fire comes near their homes or buildings and prepping the area to prevent fire from hitting their residence.
“We usually have to set one or two trucks on the buildings to make sure embers don’t start fires on the roof or something, but there are ways to minimize the fire load around your home to make it more resilient so when a fire comes near, it burns through and moves on without damaging it,” Clark said.
Clark, as fire warden, said people are welcome to call him for more information at 307-331-6431, or go to the county fire warden website at https://www.plattecountywyoming.com/departments/PlatteCountyFire.
“It’s not a good year in Platte County in regard to fire conditions. The more caution everybody has, the better we will be,” Clark concluded.